The Last Laugh
by Magsforever
Summary: Eric's final thoughts before his execution.


"A simple operation." Jeanine promised me.

"Nothing to it." she said.

"Just make sure to hit everyone with the serum and bring me two Divergent, you can dispose of the rest however you choose, just bring me one." Those were her instructions, this was supposed to be my easiest assignment yet and somehow it all went terribly wrong. Somehow they were able to capture me.

These are my thoughts as the remaining Dauntless gather in a semicircle around the chair I am currently slumped in. The chair where I will meet death. The thought makes me smile. Among the crowd stands Four and his little Stiff. The rain pours down outside, heavily, it brings back early memories of forgotten days. Funny how looking into the face of death brings back the memory of every moment of your life. Forcing you to relive it all, until finally you're just sitting there waiting for the bullet to pierce your heart. One final piercing.

"Would you like me to tell you your crimes? Or would you like to list them yourself?" a woman I remember gave me my first tattoo asked. Looks likes she's taken a leadership role in this side of Dauntless. I scan the crowd and lock eyes with the Divergent princess herself. She's wearing one of my mens jackets, I can't say I'm surprised about that. I lace my fingers and recline back in the chair, never taking my eyes from hers.

"I'd like _her to list_ them. Since she's the one who stabbed me, clearly She is familiar with them." I want her to do it, I want Four to suffer. I want him to feel the pain as well. This isn't about the girl, this is about getting the last laugh. _  
_

"Leave her out of this," says Four.

"Why? Because you're doing her?" I smirk. "Oh wait, I forgot. Stiffs don't do that sort of thing. They just tie each other's shoes and cut each other's hair."

Four's expression doesn't change but I can see I've hit the right buttons. I pulled the two biggest in only a few sentences, hitting both the Stiff and his past in one blow.

"I want her to list them," I repeat.

"You conspired with Erudite. You are responsable for the deaths of hundreds of Abnegation." The Stiff's voice rises as she goes, telling me that I've hit her too, an added bonus. She spits the words out like poison. "You betrayed Dauntless. You shot a child in the head. You are a ridiculous plaything of Jeanine Matthews."

The last statement wipes the smile off my face. I am many things, a traitor, murderer, manipulator, and liar, but I am no one's plaything.

"Do I deserve to die?" I ask her directly. Four opens his mouth to interrupt, but she manages to respond before him.

"Yes."

"Fair enough." I have one more weapon against her, guilt. I know she has an aptitude for Abnegation, she, unlike other Dauntless, still feels guilt. "But do you have the right to decide that, Beatrice Prior? Like you decided the fate of that other boy- what was his name? Will?"

She doesn't answer but gets a look that suggests I've hit the mark. It brings me some satisfaction to see that. To see that I have gotten to the unbreakable Beatrice Prior and Dauntless protégée Four.

"You have committed every crime that warrants execution among the Dauntless," Four says. "We have the right to execute you, under the laws of Dauntless."

He crouches by the three guns lined at my feet and empties the chambers one by one. They call me a traitor and a disgrace yet they execute me like a true Dauntless. They claim I am not one of them, though once I was their leader. They claim they are for the better yet they still follow the ways the other leaders and myself set forward.

Four moves the three guns, around and around, so everyone's eyes can't follow the middle gun anymore. Most people loose track, but I know he hands the loaded gun to Harrison. I know because I've done it before, I've lead executions. Three of them to be exact. All for minor things, like refusing to become faction-less because the person had become too old to move quickly.

In my minds eye I remember everything. I remember my mothers heartbroken face as I chose Dauntless, my little sister's funeral, even the faces of those I would rather forget like boy I killed here in this very compound without a seconds hesitation.

In that moment I see my life as others would've seen it. I can see why the people assembled before me have nothing but hatred in their eyes, everyone that is except the Stiff. She looks at me without any emotion.

"Wait, I have a request." I say.

"We don't take requests from criminals," the tattoo lady says.

"I am a leader of Dauntless," I say. "And all I want is for Four to be the one who fires that bullet." I've suprised them. They weren't expecting such a request from me.

"Why?" Four asks. A look of understanding passes over the Stiff's face. She understands. She knows that with my final breath I want to see the last of my enemies to break, to have the last laugh.

"So you can live with the guilt," I reply. "Of knowing that you unsurped me and then shot me in the head."

"There won't be any guilt." Four promises.

"Then you'll have no problem doing it." I smile. He picks up the bullet, like I knew he would.

"Tell me," I continue quietly, "because I've always wondered. Is it your daddy who shows up in every fear landscape you've ever gone through?"

He doesn't look up, but puts the bullet into the previously empty chamber. His silence is confirmation enough.

"You didn't like that question? What, afraid the Dauntless are going to change their minds about you? Realize that even though you've only got four fears, you're still a coward?"

I straighten in the chair and put my hands on the armrests. My death is fast approaching now. It's only a matter of seconds before it arrives. I am ready for it now. I'm ready for whatever lies beyond, I can see I have succeeded in breaking all those who have crossed me. My goals are complete. My life is over.

"Eric," Four says, holding the gun out from his shoulder, "be brave."

As he pulls the trigger a chuckle escapes my lips, too quiet to be heard over the sound of the gun.

**A/N So what did you think? Please R&R**


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